Carers: Young People

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what support his Department has made available for young carers in each year since 2010;
	(2)  what support his Department gives to young carers from a minority background who do not speak English as their first language.

Edward Timpson: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Education.
	From 2011 to 2013, the Department allocated over £1.5 million in grant funding to The Children's Society and Carers Trust to improve the support available for young carers. This followed the conclusion of a three-year funding grant to help 18 local authorities develop and test intensive family focused models of support for families with young carers as part of the young carers pathfinder programme.
	The funding has enabled The Children's Society and Carers Trust to deliver regional events for practitioners in local statutory and voluntary services on designing and delivering 'whole family' approaches to support for young carers. The events include training on engaging young carers in "hard-to-reach" groups, such as those belonging to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups who have English as a second language. The training is based on learning and resources developed in partnership with the Black Carers Network and young carers from BAME communities. In February I announced the award of a new contract worth up to £1 2 million to those two organisations to continue this work for a further two years.
	Additionally, the Department has worked closely with the two organisations to share evidence-based tools and good practice guidance, including an online training package for school staff which raises awareness about the issues facing young people with caring responsibilities and how it can impact on their school attendance and attainment.